The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating numerical control (NC) information for machining parts.
Referring to FIG. 1 which is a block diagram of a conventional NC information generating apparatus, material shape information Bf and part shape information Pf input by an operator using a CRT 1 and a keyboard 2 are respectively stored in a material shape memory section 4 and a part shape memory section 5 through an input/display control section 3. The material shape information B.sub.f and the part shape information P.sub.f stored in the material shape memory section 4 and the part shape memory section 5 are read out to a machining method determination section 6 to determine machining method information M.sub.f on portions to be machined (end surface machining portions, outside diameter machining portions, inside diameter machining portions), cutting directions (.rarw., .dwnarw., .fwdarw., and the like), cutting tools, cutting conditions (cutting speed, feed speed, spindle rotation speed, extend of cutting), and so on. The machining method information M.sub.f is stored in a machining method memory section 7. The machining method information M.sub.f stored in a machining method memory section 7 is read out to an NC information producing section 8 to produce NC information N.sub. f which is stored in an NC information memory section 9. The NC information N.sub.f stored in the NC information memory section 9 is output to a paper tape 11 or the like through an NC information output section 10 by the operation of the operator.
The operation of the thus constructed apparatus will be described below with respect to a case where the NC information is prepared for machining to obtain a part shape such as that expressed in FIG. 2A. The operator inputs a material shape information and a part shape information such as those defined in FIG. 2B by using the CRT 1 and the keyboard 2. The machining method determination section 6 determines machining method information based on the supplied material shape information and part shape information, and the NC information producing section 8 produces the NC information for effecting machining as shown in FIG. 2C based on the determined machining method information. The operator makes the apparatus output this NC information through the medium of NC tape 11 for first process step. Next, the operator inputs the material shape information and the part shape information such as those defined in FIG. 2D by using the CRT 1 and the keyboard 2, and makes the apparatus output the NC information for effecting machining as shown in FIG. 2E through the medium of the NC tape 11 for a second process step, thereby completing the overall processing.
As described above for preparation of the NC information using the conventional NC information generating apparatus, the material shape information and the part shape information are input for each of different process steps, although only one shape is provided or formed as each of the material shape and the part shape. The conventional apparatus thus requires troublesome or time-consuming operations.